PRAYING WITH JESUS

I could have titled this blog posting, PRAYING FOR PRAYER 3. I will explain that yet. But let me begin by asking how we see Jesus praying in the Gospels. He prayed all night before choosing His disciples. Have you ever prayed all night long? In the garden before the cross, He was amazed that His disciples could not even watch with Him for an hour. After feeding the multitude Jesus went up on the mountain to pray alone. Do you go from exhaustion and success directly to extended prayer? In fact prayer seems to have been woven into our Lord’s daily life. You cannot see him clearly if you do not observe Him in prayer.

It seems to me to be the height of arrogance to enter into any undertaking without extended prayer. How do we think we could make an impact on the world without the power of God that Jesus clearly depended on?

But you say, that was Jesus. We could not pray like Him anymore than we could walk on water. And I would certainly agree with you. That is why we need to walk in fellowship with Him allowing the Holy Spirit to inspire and enhance our prayers. O Father, work in my life, in our lives, today to pray more like Jesus.

 

PRAYING FOR PRAYER 2

Are you praying for prayer? I am praying for a movement of prayer. I am also praying for prayer in my own life. Prayer is grace from first to last. Would you like to become a mighty prayer warrior? That very desire is spawned in you by the Holy Spirit. It is grace. And you can pray for discipline to pray. You can pray for courage in your prayers. You can pray for God to encourage you when you are discouraged. You can ask God to remove the barriers in your heart to prayer. Pray for God to be mightily glorified in your own prayer life.

PRAYING FOR PRAYER 1

I have dealt with this subject before, but it is so important that I need to deal with it again. Next week I will deal with the perspective of praying for prayer that I touched on earlier. But this week I want to mention something new.
We have no record of a spiritual awakening taking place at any point in history that was not accompanied by what Jonathan Edwards called, “Extraordinary Prayer.” And like most facets of revival we need God to bring about what only God can do.
I am praying for God to bring about a great movement of prayer. I would like to see prayer rooms across America, and especially the Pacific Northwest where I live, that would pray fervently for every church in a given area. I am praying for prayer meetings to be organized or spring up like Jeremiah Lanphier’s (http://www.exampleofgrace.net/jeremiah-lanphier.php) prayer meeting in 1858 that started with a few, spread throughout New York City and swept the entire country. I would like to see hundreds of prayer warriors who are committed to pray specifically for seminary students and young ministers. I would like to see organized, systematic prayer that intercedes for missionaries on every continent, every nation and every people group on earth. I would like to see prayer groups praying for Hollywood and the film and television media. I would like to see similar prayer for people involved in government.
Will you pray with me for a prayer movement in our time such as the world has never experienced? I don’t believe it will end all sin in the world. I don’t necessarily believe it will save our nation from judgment. But I believe it would glorify God as nothing we have ever imagined.

IF SUFFERING IS THE WILL OF GOD

Modern Americans may be the only people in Christian history who believe suffering is never in the will of God. But this flies in the face of scripture that clearly teaches that God’s people will suffer from the attack of world, the flesh and the devil. Your suffering may be physical, social, emotional or spiritual. It may be great or small at any given time. But in this world Jesus said we would have tribulation. If this is true, how are we to pray when we face suffering? I don’t think it is wrong to ask for relief from suffering, but that is certainly not the most important prayer we can pray in such circumstances.
In John chapter 12 Jesus asked how He should pray in the face of suffering.

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say?

‘Father, save me from this hour’?

No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

²⁸ Father, glorify your name!” ^[1]

Whatever else you pray in the midst of small or great suffering that you may face today. Cry out for God to glorify His name in the trial.

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^[1] The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1984 (Jn 12:27–28). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

PLEASING GOD AND SHAKING THE EARTH

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.  The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.  Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Revelation 8:3-5

I have always loved his passage of scripture. Few places in scripture capture the significance of our prayers like this one.

First it paints a vivid picture of how pleasing our prayers are to God. The angel is given much incense to mix with our prayers and offer as a fragrant offering before God. God is pleased with your prayers. He even causes them to be mixed with incense which causes Him to smile at the sweetness offered in them. Do you see how pleased God is with your prayers?

Then we see the angel scoop the sensor into the coals on the altar where our prayers have been offered. He casts the flaming mixture onto the earth causing thunder and lightning and an earthquake. Have you neglected to pray for some great need or sin or problem on the earth because it seemed to be too formidable or terrible to be changed? God is preparing to shake the earth with the force of your prayers. There is no limit to the power He will unleash.

 

INTIMACY AND AWE

John 13:23
One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved was reclining at table close to Jesus..
Revelation 1:17
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last."

At that last supper before the cross, John reclined nearest to Jesus actually leaning on His breast. But when the glorified Christ appeared to him on the Isle of Patmos he fell on his face fainting in terror. In these two postures of the beloved apostle we see two essential attitudes of prayer, intimacy and awe.
Prayer calls us to both of these heart positions. We come to Jesus longing to be near Him, laying our lives upon his strength and love. Yet we must also come trembling at His glory, majesty, might and holiness. If you never come trembling into the presence of God you have an intellectual disconnect with the reality of our Lord.

ULTIMATE INTIMACY

1 John 2:28-3:3

John begins this passage with the words, "And now, little children, abide in him." The reason here for John's call for spiritual intimacy is so we will not have to be ashamed when we stand before Him as His own children. Do you see what kind of love our Heavenly Father has shown to us that we should be called the children of God? And that is what we have become! And when we see Him we will be made just like Jesus because we will see Him as He truly is. We will not just see His revealed appearance we will be able and be allowed to see the fullness of His nature. That life changing experience will be ultimate intimacy with God. Such present and coming intimacy gives the motivation and the power of producing holiness in our lives.